WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will allow some relatives of U.S. service members living in the country illegally to stay, according to a policy directive issued Friday.

The nine-page memorandum is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes made by President Barack Obama since he took office. The department has long had the power to stop deportations for relatives of military members and veterans, but Friday’s memo lays out how and when it can be used.

WASHINGTON — Brushing aside a White House veto threat, the Republican-controlled House voted by a healthy bipartisan majority Friday to weaken a core component of “Obamacare” and permit the sale of individual health coverage that falls short of requirements in the law.

In all, 39 Democrats broke ranks and supported the legislation, a total that underscored the growing importance of the issue in the weeks since millions of cancellation notices went out to consumers covered by plans deemed inadequate under government rules.

EAST LYME, Conn. — A Connecticut woman who spent 27 years in prison for the murder of a pregnant woman was released Friday — four years early — after state officials took the rare step of granting her clemency.

Bonnie Foreshaw, now 66, thanked supporters and asked forgiveness of the victim’s family after walking out of York Correctional Institution in East Lyme.

“Leaving York correctional facility has been a goal and now it’s a reality, and it still seems surreal,” said Foreshaw, who plans to live with a granddaughter in Manchester.

MOSCOW — Russia’s media oversight agency aims to take a newspaper to court over an article about a homosexual teacher in what appears to be the first case prepared against a publication under the country’s law on gay propaganda.

In September, a youth-oriented newspaper in Khabarovsk interviewed a teacher who had been fired over his sexual orientation. Quotes in the article prompted complaints to Roskomnadzor, the agency that supervises media conformance with law.

TORONTO — Toronto’s City Council voted overwhelmingly Friday to strip Mayor Rob Ford of some of his powers, trying to box in the brash leader who has rebuffed huge pressure to resign over his drinking and drug habits and erratic behavior. Ford vowed to challenge the measure in court.

GUIUAN, Philippines — People swept dirt from the pews and wiped clean the mud-covered, ornate tile floors of a church. The sound of hammers hitting nails and the buzzing of chain saws reverberated in the streets. Debris was piled on corners and set ablaze.

And amid all this activity, a stream of bodies continued their final journey toward a hillside mass grave where nearly 170 had been buried by Friday afternoon.

BEIJING — China’s leaders announced Friday the first significant easing of its one-child policy in nearly 30 years and moved to abolish its labor camp system — addressing deeply unpopular programs at a time when the Communist Party feels increasingly alienated from the public.

Beijing also pledged to open state-dominated industries wider to private competition and ease limits on foreign investment in e-commerce and other businesses in a sweeping reform plan aimed at rejuvenating a slowing economy.

JOHANNESBURG — Amid a rash of tombstone thefts from cemeteries in Johannesburg, a company will be offering relatives of the deceased a high-tech solution: microchips that can be inserted into the memorial that will sound an alarm and send a text message to their cell phones if it is disturbed.

The new tombstone microchips developed by a private company will be offered at the beginning of next year as part of the city’s “smart” initiatives, said Alan Buff, the manager of Johannesburg City Parks Cemeteries and Crematoriums.

WASHINGTON — Iran would get only minor relief from economic sanctions under an international proposal to prevent it from producing nuclear weapons, two Obama administration officials said Friday, seeking to calm concerns in Israel and on Capitol Hill that the U.S. and its allies are giving away too much to Tehran.

While playing down the sanctions relief being discussed, the administration was hoping it would be enough to finalize an initial agreement with Iran next week in Geneva.

PARAMUS, N.J. — In surveillance video from inside a New Jersey mall where a man fired shots before killing himself last week, a store employee can be seen ducking down, closing the shop’s heavy glass doors, then scrambling toward the back. Moments later, a man dressed in black and carrying a large gun walks slowly past.